The history of the past 50 years reveals expectations of salvation that comes cheap, which produce burning disillusions. The crib: “such an important element not only of our spirituality, but also of our culture and art”.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Gearing up for Christmas is not only about presents and fairy lights but about preparing one’s heart for the “extraordinary event that changed history”. In the view of Benedict XVI, it is up to Christians to do this, especially since there are so many people who not only live as if God did not exist, but who sometimes also see him as an obstacle to their fulfillment. Although “the history of the past 50 years reveals expectations of salvation that comes cheap”, which produces “burning disillusions”, mankind today “albeit with its contradictions, angst and drama” is waiting for, at times without knowing, the advent of Christ”.
Today’s general audience was rife with the sound of Italian bagpipes and songs of Christmas, to which the pope dedicated his reflection shared with 8,000 joyous people who filled Paul VI Hall in the Vatican. The pope was greeted with considerable warmth from the moment he arrived. He made his way leisurely down the corridor between the barriers, stopping to greet people who reached out to him affectionately.
“Is mankind of our time still waiting for the Saviour?” asked the pope.
”One gets the feeling that many consider God to be outside their sphere of interest. Apparently they don’t need him; they live as if he did not exist and worse, as if he was an obstacle that must be removed before they could fulfill themselves.” And “even among believers, there are those who allow themselves to be drawn by alluring chimeras and to be distracted by misleading doctrines that suggest deluding shortcuts to happiness.” However, the path to follow is that of preparing ourselves to draw close to the grotto of Bethlehem in the same spirit that Mary and Joseph did, the grotto where a “prodigy” took place: the “creator of the universe came out of love and made his home among mankind”. “It is not hard to imagine how they spent the final days of their wait to hold the newborn child in their arms.” May their approach become ours, so that “born among us, he will not find us distracted or simply embellishing our homes with lights”. Rather let us prepare our hearts to welcome the “advent of Christ, the only redeemer of man and all mankind” in a worthy manner.
The pope added at the end of the audience: “In a few days, it is Christmas and I imagine that final preparations for the crib are under way in your homes, that depiction of the Nativity that remains as striking as ever. I hope that such an important element, not only of our spirituality but also of our culture and art, will continue to be a simple and eloquent way of recalling he who came to ‘live among us’.”
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